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How to go it alone in a competitive industry

If you’re asked to think about local law firms and you probably either think about the big ones you’ve heard on local radio, seen on billboards or the countless smaller firms you pass as you walk down the high street. Law firms are everywhere and let’s face it, people don’t want to think about them unless they really need them.

This makes it a really difficult industry to establish yourself in, particularly when you have a small number of employees. Here are five things I’ve learned from competing in an uber-competitive sector.

1. Resilience

My route into being the Principal solicitor at Natasha Hall Law has been a long one. Starting as a junior in a local law firm aged 21 and working my way up to legal assistant before getting a law degree.

Thinking about your journey so far makes you grateful. Be grateful for where you are and what you’ve achieved so far in your business.

This also prepares you for any setbacks along the way. They happen to everyone and you need to deal with them and move on.

2. Who cares?

As mentioned, most people don’t want to think about a law firm until they need legal services. Choosing between them is often down to how quickly you need the service as well as costs. In most cases it is difficult for clients to decide which firm to go with as they often say the same things, have the same websites and even look the same.

So, be different.

It’s all very well saying you have great customer service, expertise and that you want to keep costs low for your clients. But the differentiating factor is whether you can prove it. This comes from your relationship with clients. Especially in this digital age. A positive review or recommendation from a client is worth a thousand things you could say about yourself.

From there you can think about the additional benefits you can promise potential clients.
In our case it is a free consultation which gives us the chance to help the client for free and demonstrate our expertise.

3. Strategy

The biggest thing about strategy is that it allows the small business to determine where best they should invest their time (and money) in order to achieve business objectives.

Getting the right advice is vital in helping you make the right decisions. You’ll also need to be prepared to try things and quickly establish whether they work or not.

The social media agency will always want to tell you that social media is best, just as the video marketing agency will tell you that video is worth investing in.

Costs can soon add up so you need to either make sure you are going to get a clear return on investment in marketing and sales or stop and try something new!

A great starting point is always to identify 3-5 competitors and try to establish which sales funnels are working for them.

Strategy allows you to plan your time and resources to achieve your business goals.

4. Networking

The old adage that “people buy people” still rings true and another way you can differentiate from competitors is by getting your name and face out there. Make sure you are active at industry networking events and even events that are connected to your industry.

It doesn’t even have to be face to face. Both Linkedin and Facebook are full of industry-specific groups where you can network and share experiences from your industry (as well as find potential leads).

So set up a profile and get started, there’s nothing to be scared about.

5. Innovation

What are the ways that you can get ahead of competitors by trying something new or different?

This includes how your website looks, how customers can communicate with you and how you manage them during and after they are a client. For example, would people rather ask a quick question via Facebook messenger as opposed to picking up the phone? There’s only one way to find out.